By Matt Gade

605 Sports

SPEARFISH — To kick off her junior campaign, Spearfish’s Peyton VanDeest took care of business, winning her first race of the season and home meet, the Northern Hills Invitational, Friday morning at Ferguson Park.

“It was really great (to win), especially on the home course; it was really a beautiful day out here. Super excited to get the win,” VanDeest said.
“I'm super happy for our team. I think we just wanted to come out here and kind of set a base for the season, especially going out to Sioux Falls and Huron the next two weekends for some big meets. So really happy with how it went for myself and the team, and I think we're looking forward to seeing how this season goes.”

The Spartans’ girls team came away as the team champions in Friday’s race, going 1-2-3 in the event led by VanDeest, followed by Kori Keil and Sierra Sandford.

VanDeest is fresh off a successful sophomore track season where she finished second in the Class AA girls’ 800 meters and took third in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. She was also a part of the Spartans’ 3,200-meter relay team that finished third.

“My track season, I was super happy with it. It was great,” VanDeest said. “In the summer, I was just putting in the miles, putting in the hard work. It's definitely tough in that heat, but early mornings, lifting, all the small stuff — It's just going to pay off during the season.”

Last season, VanDeest finished fourth in the Class AA state cross country meet with an 18:30.56.

On Friday, VanDeest posted a 17:53.06. 

The mark is the top Class AA girls’ time as of Friday and second in the state behind Sioux Falls Christian’s Ellie Maddox, who is in Class A.

Only Harrisburg’s Brianna Reilly, the defending Class AA state champion, and Hannah Genrich, the Class AA runner-up, would have better times based on last year. The Tiger duo has yet to record a time early in the season.

VanDeest said she doesn’t have a specific time in mind, noting that most of her races will be on “super hilly” courses, but just wants to continue to improve throughout the course of the year.

“I don't really have a time goal. Just improve, improvement from last year at state, and maybe even get up there as a team,” VanDeest said of reaching the podium. “We have a super young team. So I'm curious to see how we'll do.”

The Spartans feature just two seniors on the roster, Keil and Bella Linn. Given VanDeest’s experience at the varsity level, the junior does see herself in more of a leadership role for the team.

“I like cheering on the girls, hyping them up. I think a couple of us really hype up the girls, the younger girls. That makes them super excited to run,” she said. “So it's really nice being able to do that for them.”

As VanDeest and the 2025 season get underway, the Spartan junior said she does plan on running in college and said, as some schools have already reached out to her, she is excited to see how the recruitment process goes for her.

Spearfish's Peyton VanDeest runs the final 100 meters to win the girl's race during the Northern Hills Invitational on Friday morning in Spearfish. (Matt Gade / 605 Sports)